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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said 39 people had been killed, including some of his family, and 150 were injured.

Al-Shabab said the attack was in response to Kenyan troops in Somalia.

There are about 4,000 Kenyan troops in the south of Somalia, where they have been fighting the militants since 2011.

On its Twitter feed, al-Shabab - which has links to al-Qaeda - said it was behind what it called the "Westgate spectacle".

In his TV address, Mr Kenyatta said security forces were "in the process of neutralising the attackers and securing the mall".

Kenya has about 4,000 troops in southern Somalia. They intervened in 2011 following attacks and kidnappings in northern Kenya near the Somali border.

The Kenyans were subsequently integrated into a larger African Union (AU) force of 17,000 soldiers. It has a UN mandate to protect the weak Somali government.

In practice this means the AU force - known as Amisom - attack al-Shabab where they can. But al-Shabab still control at least half of southern Somalia.

Al-Shabab respond to Amisom by mounting hit and run attacks. They say Amisom are invaders stopping their legitimate vision of creating an Islamic State.

Here in Kismayo, for example, the airport comes under regular attack by small arms fire suspected to come from al-Shabaab positions. The Kenyan army responds with heavier weapons to chase the attackers away.

He went on: "We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to. We shall get to them and we shall punish them for this heinous crime."

He said he had "personally lost family members in the Westgate attack".

As night fell in Nairobi, two contingents of army special forces troops are reported to have moved inside the mall.

A police officer inside the shopping centre told Reuters that the remaining gunmen were barricaded inside a Nakumatt supermarket, one of Kenya's biggest chains.

The Kenya National Disaster Operation Centre said that an unknown number of shoppers and staff were being held by the gunmen, as the massive police and army operation continued more than 12 hours after the attack began.

The attackers entered the Westgate centre at about 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT), throwing grenades and firing automatic weapons. A children's day event was being held at the time.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says a security source told him that at least one of the attackers was a woman who appeared to have some kind of leadership role.

Our correspondent says that it is unclear how many civilians are hostages and how many are in hiding.

Al-Shabab said on Twitter that the Kenyan government wanted to negotiate an end to the Westgate attack. But officials have told the BBC they intend to hunt the gunmen down.

One gunman was arrested and died of his wounds, Kenyan officials told the BBC. Four other gunmen were arrested.

Footage from inside the mall shows the aftermath of the shoot-out

Security experts are reported to have long warned that the complex, which is at least in part Israeli-owned, was in danger of being subjected to a terror attack.

Some witnesses said the gunmen had told Muslims to leave and said non-Muslims would be targeted.

"They came and said: 'If you are Muslim, stand up. We've come to rescue you," said Elijah Lamau.

He said the Muslims left with their hands up, and then the gunmen shot two people.

The correspondent in Nairobi for the Economist, Daniel Howden told the BBC he spoke to one man with a Christian first name but a Muslim-sounding surname who managed to escape the attackers by putting his thumb over his first name on his ID.

However, the man told Mr Howden that an Indian man standing next to him who was asked for the name of the Prophet Muhammad's mother was shot dead when he was unable to answer.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, who is embedded with the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia, says the AU troops attack al-Shabab where they can.

Al-Shabab says the AU forces are invaders stopping their legitimate vision of creating an Islamic state and respond by mounting hit-and-run attacks, our correspondent says.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there would "undoubtedly" be British nationals caught up in Saturday's events.

The US State Department says it has reports that American citizens were injured in what it called "a senseless act of violence".

Two French citizens were among the victims of today's attack, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

President Francois Hollande "condemns the cowardly attack in the strongest terms and shares the pain of the family of our compatriots", it said.

Two Canadians, including a diplomat, are also among the dead.

Nairobi's mortuary superintendent, Sammy Nyongesa Jacob, told Reuters that Africans, Asians and Caucasians were among the bodies brought to the mortuary.

This is one of the worst incidents in Kenya since the attack on the US embassy in August 1998.

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Even if we were at odds with each other, I still thank you for training me, Instructor Bowman - Yu Ominae, reflecting on Bowman's death after killing him in Phantom Island

Since coming to office in August, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has done everything to spell out the profound difference between his administration and the previous one. No, Iran is still not a liberal democracy, but what we are witnessing today is an amazing journey of a struggling country with barriers, obstacles, and contending ideologies and practices towards a better future and some kind of coexistence with the surrounding world.

Rouhani’s campaign revolved around the same ideas he is professing now as a president. Dialogue with the west, compromise on the nuclear issues, recovering the economy, and eventually doing anything possible to lift the sanctions. Critics maintained that he is merely a puppet of the hardliners. In fact, he had to compromise with his own hardliners: his cabinet is not the one he dreamt of, but the winds of change are coming to Tehran. In a couple of interviews to American network Rouhani reiterated the official stand of the IRI that under no circumstances should Iran pursue development of nuclear weapons. Cynics may dismiss it altogether, but Iran opposes weapons of mass destruction regardless of pretext. Harsh criticism was voiced (and later been denied to some extent) against Assad’s Syria use of chemical weapon, reminding the Iranian tragedy as a victim of Saddam Hussein WMD attacks during the long war.

You don't need to agree with him, but at least you stop to listen.
You wouldn't have done the same if it were some random guys in the street instead.

This is exactly the point I'm contesting. I've been listening and have been inspired many a times with similar thoughts that are given far more eloquently and succinctly on the point of how we aren't exceptional. Here is one such example in the following:

Think about this: even if you're one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you."

I simply don't agree with the idea that just because a message will get a bigger platform even if it comes from a dubious guy, I should agree with it without considering the context behind it.... because the message can be or should be allowed to stand on its own. When that high school teacher spoke in that graduation ceremony, he caught the nation's eye for weeks to follow which sparked many debates and conversation. Compared to that, Putin's "message" is already fading.

Anyway, I think I've got everything I could get out of this conversation. You guys have my sincere thanks for those candid thoughts.

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Eat and sleep!Sig by RRW.Nanatsu no Taizai! Why haven't you watched it?Executive member of the ASS. Ready to flee at the first sign of trouble.

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

This is exactly the point I'm contesting. I've been listening and have been inspired many a times with similar thoughts that are given far more eloquently and succinctly on the point of how we aren't exceptional. Here is one such example in the following:

Let's face it, in China everyone in high office did something they can be hanged for... But only technically. And people only got their actions prosecuted if thy piss off enough of their peers. Luxury prison is neither here or there, what matters is that they are removed from power. But as long as they don't get executed, there will always be a chance to come back, no matter how "disgraced" they were suppose to be.

"The FBI is investigating whether as many as five Americans were among the small
team of terrorists who took over a Kenyan mall and launched a bloodbath that has
left at least 68 dead and 175 injured over two days of carnage."

It could have been a lot worse (both for German, and Europeans in general). The good thing is that now the "conservatives" will not be dependent populist parties (like the free democrats ant euro-skeptics). Also they will have a heavy upper hand on their junior coalition partners, since they still needs 5 seats (out of 630) for a majority.

Since when did the FDP count as "populist"? They've been in parliament since the founding of the republic and in the government for the majority of time. They did receive a lot of critic lately, being accused of boldly and exclusively catering for their rich voters but I have never heard anyone calling them populist.

Many votes will be disregarded in this election, since they didn't make the minimum 5% that are needed to go into the German parliament. The aforementioned FDP and AfD ("euro-critics") got 4.8% and 4.7% respectively, then you have the pirate party (2.2%, originated from the Swedish pirate bay movement/party with a focus on Internet/privacy/civil rights) plus another 4.0% for a bunch of very small parties. In total 15.7% that got lost.

Merkel's Union may be the biggest "party" but she does not have the majority so the failure of the FDP is a huge problem for her. If they made the 5% they would have received a few positions but Merkel would have had most of the power and a stable majority. Now she will probably have to form a coalition with the SPD which is much bigger and will likely make a hell lot of demands. If it wanted to it could also decide to form its own government (red-red-green), if it rethinks its opposition to the left, borderline-communist "Die Linke" (with roots to the communist party of Eastern Germany).

I don't know if this is good for Germany but there weren't many chances for it to go worse for the other Europeans. The only party >2% that does not want to keep the Euro at all costs (->huge financial help/guarantees for others) was the AfD and for that alone no one would have formed a coalition with them. The only difference is that Merkel's opposition wants even more guarantees than she is already giving. It has already speculated that the SPD will work together with the French Socialists against Merkel.

Since Rösler, not that it is his fault alone, but the whole party has resorted to populism in order to remain significant. As for why the result is good for Germany, the country has a lot of financial benefits from the debt crisis... the unfortunate fact is that these are not felt by its population (low wages, high taxes, etc).

Why aren't we arming both sides and let them kill each other. There is so much money to be made from selling guns!

All hail the military industrial complex!

Alternatively, when they pass by your street, just chuck sugar water over them. Since they like to be hot, let's make them hot and sticky.

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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Why is all the discussion only about a "grand coalition" between the CDU/CSU and the SPD? What about a CDU/CSU+Green coalition? Is there more antipathy toward Merkel and CDU among the Greens than among the SPD membership? The Greens would probably want the environment portfoiio, but I doubt that would be on offer at least at the outset. If they got a couple of junior ministries and did a decent job with them, it might help convince voters that the Greens actually have an interest in governing rather than just criticizing.

Everything I've seen suggests that there may have been few Israeli (and American) plain-clothed advisors, but the operation itself was led by the Kenyan Special Forces with support from the police and military. I don't think there is any evidence foreign forces were used in the response to the assault.

"Listen up children: Cheating on your homework or cribbing notes from another
student is bad, but not as bad as sharing a music track with a friend, or otherwise
depriving the content-industry of its well-earned profits.

That’s one of the messages in a new-school curriculum being developed with the
Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America
and the nation’s top ISPs, in a pilot project to be tested in California elementary
schools later this year.

A near-final draft of the curriculum shows that it comes in different flavors for every
grade from kindergarten through sixth, to keep pace with your developing child’s ability
to understand that copying is theft, period."